Yingluck get first female prime minister

Thailand’s Pheu Thai Party under the leadership of Yingluck Shinawatra, youngest sister of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, won the country’s 26th general election on Sunday, paving the way for her to be the first female prime minister of this Southeast Asian nation.

The country’s Election Commission reports that the latest tally after nearly all votes were counted shows that Puea Thai has won a clear majority with 265 seats out of 500, far ahead of the 159 seats won by the Democrat Party of incumbent Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

Speaking to an army of reporters and supporters at Pheu Thai Party headquarters in Bangkok, Ms Yingluck earlier thanked voters for supporting her party, pledging to press ahead with national reconciliation.

She however stopped short of declaring victory pending final results.

“I don’t want to say that the Pheu Thai wins but it is because the people have given (us) a chance.  Loads of tough jobs are waiting ahead, in particular, economic problems and building national reconciliation,” she said.

The 44-year-old businesswoman-turned-politician said her party has agreed to form a coalition government with Chartthaipattana Party, led by Banharn Silapa-archa, and that the party executives will later discuss it with other parties.

Ms Yingluck’s announcement came shortly after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva conceded defeat just a few hours ahead of Sunday’s unofficial results.

He congratulated Ms Yingluck for her party’s victory and pledged that the Democrats will do their duty constructively as the parliamentary opposition.

Ms Yingluck earned a bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration of Chiang Mai University and a master’s degree in Public Administration at Kentucky State University in the United States.

After graduation, she began her career working for Shinawatra Directories Co., Ltd. as a sales and marketing trainee in 1991 and became the company’s purchasing manager the same year.

Between 2002-2006, she was the managing director of Advanced Info Service Pcl (AIS), Thailand’s largest GSM mobile phone operator. The company was sold to Singapore’s state-owned agency, Temasek Holdings.

Before entering politics, Ms Yingluck was the president of property developer SC Asset Co., Ltd.

One of her older sisters is Yaowapa Wongsawat, whose husband, Somchai, was in 2008 Thailand’s 26th prime minister. Ms Yingluck has a 9-year-old son with her common-law husband Anusorn Amornchat, chairman of the executive board and director of M-Link Asia Corp. Public Co. Ltd.

Election Commission (EC) Chairman Apichart Sukhagganond said he was satisfied with the overall management of the general election.

He said the election in Thailand has drawn international attention as 111 foreign observers officially came to observe the poll through the EC, while some 300 other election watchers from overseas came via various NGOs and civil society agencies.

The Election Commissioner said he believed that the Sunday election was held in a free and fair manner. The agency will investigate complaints and certify the poll result within seven days. (MCOT online news)

 

From mcot.net